Beyond the Reading Room

This Wednesday's watermarks feature: On pot or not?! Pot / jug motifs in an 18th century Turkish manuscript and a 17th century English manuscript.

It seems odd that the first recorded images of tiny creatures as seen through the lenses of a microscope were engravings of a bee included in a bilingual edition (Latin and Italian) and commentary of the poetry of the first-century Roman satirist Aulus Persius. But here is the fascinating story explaining it all.

Jerry “Jai” Moore, the remaining officer from the Detroit Area Council of the Mattachine Society (1958-1960), shared memories of his involvement in gay life and activism in 1950s and 60s Detroit . UM Professor Gayle Rubin opened the event with a discussion about the importance of libraries, in particular the Labadie Collection, in her quest for affirmation.

Part of the Special Collections Library's Film, Theatre and Television Archives, the Robert Shaye-New Line Cinema Papers contains material on Robert Shaye’s career as a founder of New Line Cinema, producer, director, distributor and actor in Hollywood. New Line Cinema’s famous productions include the Nightmare on Elm Street series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Austin Powers and the Lord of the Rings movies.

October is the month for apples, and for apple cider. This month's recipe is for a cider cake, a popular pastry found in many of our 19th century cookbooks.

If you’re interested in the history of vaudeville, burlesque, or other 20th century stage performance, these papers might just give you some insight into “what’s happened to the the’tre”…

We are very pleased to announce that the online exhibit, Puzzle Me This: Early binding fragments from the U of M Papyrology Collection, is now available to the public.

Don't miss "Pearls of Wisdom : The Arts of Islam at the University of Michigan," on display October 15th - December 21st at the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology! This exhibition features a number of items from the Special Collections Library, including manuscripts from our Islamic Manuscripts Collection and a couple of magic bowls from our Historic Scientific Instrument Collection.

Meet Laura. She spent her summer doing research in the Special Collections Library, and I was able to talk with her for a few minutes on her last day about her experience.

Nestled in the nearly 800 boxes that comprise the Robert Altman Archive here at the University of Michigan’s Special Collections Library is a treasure trove of materials from his 1980 film Popeye, which featured Robin Williams as the mumbling, spinach eating sailor. Over the last two months since the unexpected passing of Williams, numerous magazines, websites and blogs have paid tribute to the departed comic genius. Chief among them is Eric Spitnagel’s piece for Vanity Fair’s Hollywood entitled Popeye is the Best Movie Robin Williams Ever Made. While many may gasp at Spitnagel’s judgment, his witty and humorous remarks demonstrate the loyalty certain Williams fans feel towards a film that is often maligned rather than rejoiced.